Police shoots dead ex-finance minister’s daughter; family suspects something else

Former Finance Minister Nenadi Usman, whose daughter Anita Akapson, 31, was murdered by police officer, has petitioned IGP Ibrahim Idris.

Usman’s lawyer Kayode Ajulo, in the petition, alleged that Akapson “was trailed, targeted, intercepted, her vehicle brushed, blocked and shot at close range by a police officer at Katampe District, Abuja.”

She was said to be driving out of her apartment at Katampe Extension by Gwarimpa Estate in a Honda Accord car when she was shot dead by a superintendent of police around 11 pm on Saturday.

The officer, whose name was not given by the police, was said to have mistaken her for a suspected car thief.

The police team had earlier arrested two suspects who were attempting to steal a car around the victim’s neighbourhood.

“The SP fired at the car thinking it was the suspect that was driving out and the woman was hit by bullets. She was rushed to Gwarimpa General Hospital where she died,” a senior police officer said.

But the family of the victim insists it was deliberate.

“The circumstances of the trailing, tracking and gruesome murder of the deceased who had a strong affinity with Senator Nenadi Usman, a member of the leading opposition political party in Nigeria, and who is presently facing continuous prosecutions from the state, calls for thorough and comprehensive investigation,” the petition read in part.

“Given the level of intimidation of opposition by the instrumentalities of the state, our clients are worried as to the intent or possible calculated assassination of the deceased to further cause anguish to the family.”

According to a statement by force spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, in Abuja on Monday, the IG had ordered that the policemen be detained and also asked the Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to investigation the incident.